F. Hockey is ready to win

When you have just barely managed to escape a thrilling, tooth-and-nail overtime battle, you are bound to ask yourself what you could possibly do for an encore. The answer is simple -- Just win, baby! That, at least, is the philosophy of Penn field hockey coach Anne Sage heading into tomorrow's noon game at Delaware. "We've had enough drama for now," Sage said. "We just want to come out, execute and win. Hopefully, it will be that simple." Penn's punch will be affected due to the questionable status of senior midfielder Amy Pine. Pine, the Quakers' leading scorer and the overtime hero against Villanova, was injured during Tuesday night's victory. She had to be helped off the field, and walked to the team van on crutches. Pine suffered a badly bruised knee when a Villanova defender mistook her stick for an axe and swung freely at Pine's lower leg. Her status for tomorrow's game is uncertain. "She is a question mark right now," Sage said. "It will probably have to be a game-day decision. But there is no question that she will want to play. It's just a matter of whether she can." During yesterday's light workout, Pine appeared to be showing no ill effects from the injury. But the Quakers (2-0) do not want to rush their star into a hasty return to game action. The absence of Pine would likely cripple the Quaker offense. Although they fired 30 shots at Villanova goaltender Chrissy Thomas, it took a majestic effort from Pine to conjure up their only tally of the contest. "Offense is certainly a bit of a problem right now," Sage said. "I don't know what the deal was on Tuesday. We had it going, but [Thomas] was just a plug in there. Hopefully, we will not run into goaltending like that again." Sage, however, is working on strategies to prevent that kind of frustration. She has implemented some new offensive plays with more intricate passing systems designed to help throw the opposing goalie out of position. These plays will be used in tomorrow's contest with the Blue Hens (2-0). The timing could not be much better. Delaware has always been a tough opponent, and the Blue Hens are riding high on the heels of an impressive victory over perennial power Maryland. "Sure, Delaware is tough," Sage said, "but we're not worrying. We're just going to come in and play our game the best we can. That should be enough." Sage's confidence stems from two sources -- last season's 4-0 drubbing of the Blue Hens at Franklin Field and the Quakers' new-found composure. "We beat them pretty handily last year," Sage said. "We feel like we can do it again. I do not, however, want to underestimate them." Delaware is coming off a 9-8 season under first-year coach Carol Miller. Sage, however, maintains her feelings about tomorrow's contest do not emanate from last year. Rather, Sage has recognized the maturity of her team. "We are just playing with incredible composure," Sage said. "That game against Villanova was a character-builder. Not many teams could handle that kind of competition. But we just took it in stride." In Delaware, Penn will be coming up against a team with considerable experience along its own sidelines. With 11 returning players, including five seniors, the Blue Hens are a fine-tuned machine. So the game should be a matchup of powerful opponents, each with something to prove. The Quakers only hope they won't have to go into extra minutes to state their case. After all, there's only so much tension one team can handle in a week.